Review~ Cousins beat us…just a few milliseconds late on a couple of plays made the difference. The roughing call on Keke that negated Savage’s first INT, then Savage’s “dropped” INT, which could’ve been his 2nd, added 10 points to the Vikings’ ledger.
Missed Kick. It’s growing more and more apparent that this is an issue with the long snapper and/or holder, however the issue must be fixed. Crosby was perfect last season and began 9/9 this year prior to the Packers making the switch from Hunter Bradley to Steven Wirtel (#46). Either way, this must be figured out, regardless of How.
Penalties – 8 accepted for 92 yards. That’s a killer, essentially adding that total to the Vikings. As mentioned above, the Keke roughing added 7 points to Minnesota which could’ve been a 10–14-point swing right there.
Time of Possession – Minnesota won the TOP 31:01 to 28:59. Yes, the Defense could’ve/should’ve come up with the stop on that last Minnesota drive, and damn near did, but they didn’t and the Packers lost.
While the loss dropped Green Bay to the 2-seed and bumped Minnesota up to the 6th seed, I still don’t feel any worse/better after this game, as the injuries really affected the Packers. Assuming some of these guys will return before season’s end, that should give confidence to Packer nation that this team is as talented as any team in the NFL.
Matchup~
| LAR-off | (rank) | vs. | GB-def | (rank) | |
| Rush | 97.9 | 24 | 105.6 | 12 | |
| Pass | 289.3 | 4 | 213.2 | 7 | |
| Total | 387.2 | 6 | 318.8 | 7 | |
| Pts | 27.1 | 7 | 19.5 | 5 | |
| LAR-def | GB-off | ||||
| Rush | 105.2 | 11 | 108.0 | 20 | |
| Pass | 241.7 | 16 | 243.0 | 13 | |
| Total | 346.9 | 12 | 351.0 | 18 | |
| Pts | 22.7 | 15 | 22.5 | 17 | |
| T/O | |||||
| Takeaways | 14 | T-12th | 16 | T-8th | |
| Giveaways | 11 | T-7th | 9 | T-3rd | |
| Diff. | 3 | T-9th | 7 | 4th |
Preview~ This seems to be about an even a matchup as there’s been this year in the NFL, at least on paper. I believe the Packers opened as 1.5-point favorites, and as of Friday afternoon, the Rams are 0.5-point favorites. Keep in mind the Packers are making up for their fortunate health situation in 2019 & 2020 with 16 guys on the IR (Injured Reserve and/or Injury Report), which resembles 2010.
This is a strength vs. strength (Rams’ Offense vs. Green Bay’s Defense), especially the passing game. The Packers struggled last week, but aside from Kenny Clark absolutely humiliating every center the Vikings threw out there, Green Bay still couldn’t generate enough of a pass rush (2 sacks on 5 QB hits) to help the decimated secondary.
This may be it for the margin for error when it comes to obtaining the 1-seed, then again, this has been a screwy a year as ever, and once a team looks great, they get bested by a $hit team (i.e., see Buffalo losing to Jacksonville). If Green Bay can get to their BYE at 9-3, with the idea that potentially Aaron Jones, Rashan Gary (whom may play Sunday vs LA), Za’Darius Smith, and possibly Jaire Alexander could return before the postseason could really inject life (and a boat load of talent and production) into an already strong team.
This should feel like a playoff game – even as it’s a rematch of the divisional round game last year – Aaron Donald will be 100% this game, the Packers’ OL will be far from it. Could the difference be Aaron Donald (#99), Von Miller (#40), and Leonard Floyd (#54) vs. a really banged up Packers front-5? Hopefully Rodgers and LaFleur can get crafty enough to get running lanes and the screen-game going to alleviate pressure and hold the ball. The weather could play a factor for the speedy Rams, so let’s see what these guys come up with, shall we?
Rams 27
Packers 28
Season: 7-4
Overall: 76-40
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